In This Article:
Economic Calendar:
Friday, 24th July
French Manufacturing PMI (Jul) Prelim
French Services PMI (Jul) Prelim
German Manufacturing PMI (Jul) Prelim
German Services PMI (Jul) Prelim
Eurozone Manufacturing PMI (Jul) Prelim
Eurozone Markit Composite PMI (Jul) Prelim
Eurozone Services PMI (Jul) Prelim
The Majors
It was a mixed day for the European majors on Thursday. The EuroStoxx600 eked out a 0.06% gain, while the DAX30 and CAC40 slipped by 0.01% and by 0.07% respectively.
Economic data, earnings, and geopolitics left the European majors flat on the day.
Mid-week, tensions between the U.S and China picked up once more, weighing on market risk appetite. This time around the U.S accused China of hacking U.S companies, leading to an order to shut down China’s consulate in Houston.
The Stats
It was a quiet day on the Eurozone economic calendar. Key stats included Germany’s GfK Consumer Climate figures for August.
According to the GfK Survey,
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The GfK Consumer Climate Index increased by 9.3 points to -0.3 for August.
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While economic expectations rose marginally, income expectations and the propensity to buy saw large jumps.
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Income expectations rose by 12 points to 18.6, leaving the indicator down by around 32 points from the same time last year.
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The propensity to buy indicator jumped by 23.1 points to 42.5, leaving it down by just 4 points from last year.
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A reduction in value-added tax contributed to the sharp rebound.
From the U.S
The weekly jobless claims figures were in focus later in the European session.
In the week ending 17th July, initial jobless claims rose by 1.416m, which was worse than a forecasted 1.3m increase.
The figures yet again showed that the U.S economy was struggling to continue to recover as new COVID-19 cases hit the U.S.
The Market Movers
For the DAX: It was a mixed day for the auto sector on Thursday. Daimler rallied by 2.26% to lead the way, with BMW and Continental rising by 0.92% and by 0.69% respectively. Volkswagen bucked the trend, falling by 0.68%.
The upside for Daimler off the back of its quarterly earnings. A projected rise in profit for the Mercedes-Benz and Van divisions delivered support.
It was a bearish day for the banks. Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank ended the day with losses of 2.72% and 1.84% respectively.
From the CAC, it was another bearish day for the banks. Soc Gen slid by 1.47% to lead the way down. BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole ended the day down by 0.62% and by 0.16% respectively.
The French auto sector found support after Wednesday’s pullback. Peugeot and Renault ended the day with gains of 2.69% and by 7.19% respectively.